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HOW TO MAKE 

Individual 
Dress -Forms 




Copyrighted 1917 
by 

GEORGE WEANT 

II 



Price $1.00 



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JAN 24 1917 



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PREFACE. 

S:^ ibe begimini;:; of tli'^ last century 
tncre lioS been, among won^.C:! who do their 
own dress -making, an increasing demand for 
dress forms. The first forms put on the mar- 
ket were the simple non-adjustable ones but 
since no two people have a form exactly alike 
they were found unsatisfactory. This ob- 
stacle of dissimilarity in people's forms was 
partly removed by the invention of the adjus- 
table forms, and with the realization that 
there is such a difference in every person's 
shape, the number of parts of the adjustable 
forms has been increased to almost a score. 

This necessitated increase in the number of 
sections in the forms now^ on the market, alone 
proves that they do not come up to the stan- 
dard of perfection. They fall far short of 
what they should be and what the home dress-^ 
maker would have them, the complete adjus- 
tability to the individuality of the person for 
whom the sewing is being done. 

While non-adjustable and adjustable forms 
are a great boon to dress-making and the ad- 
justable forms are as near the goal of the 
''individual form" as mechanical devices can 
make them, yet no human ingenuity can de- 
vise a machine made form which can be ad- 
justed to be the exact counter-part of each of 
the twenty million women in the U. S. no two 
of which I dare say have forms exactly alike. 
Hence the need of the individual dress form. 

There are at least ten million women in the 
U. S. who do their own sewing and are look- 
ing for a dress form with perfect individuality 



and it is for these women that this book is 
written. 

The method of making individual dress 
forms as described in this book is not an ex- 
periment, the process is patented and forms 
made and sold by the inventor have stood the 
tests of the most exacting and met with the 
hearty approval of women of all classes. 

These forms may also be made for girls of 
any age and have been found to give the same 
satisfaction as those made for women with 
the exception that they are outgrown so 
quickly. Yet they will last at least a year and 
after learning the method hardly a mother 
will begrudge one day's work for the one 
year's service that the form will render. 

The inventor spent a year in perfecting the 
process herein described and in experimenting 
tried paper-mache, plaster paris molds and 
other similar methods sometimes suggested, 
discarding them all as unsatisfactory. The 
composition and construction of the forms 
made by this method make them impervious 
to heat and water, hence when you have a 
form properly made you may be sure that 
with ordinary care it wlil last a life time. 

That you will make a success of your first 
form is only a question of a little painstaking 
care and patience and when you have finished 
it you can justly and proudly say that you 
have an individual dress form that is the true 
copy of yourself. 



HOW TO MAKE INDIVIDUAL 
DRESSFORMS 

The materials necessary to make the dress- 
form described in this book are given in the 
following' list : 

2 pounds resin. 

2 pounds Paro-wax. 

5 pounds good plaster-paris. 

1-2 pound bulk glue. 

5 yards flat elastic, 1-4 inch. 

2 yards flannelette. 

1 heavy ribbed men's cotton undershirt (Get 
largest size obtainable. Size 50, if possible ) 

4 dozen drapery pins. 

Before beginning work on the form it is 
absolutely necessary to have a marker which 
is made as follows : Get two strips of wood 
5 feet long and 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick. 
Lay the two strips side by side, measure 12 
inches from the end and at this point saw a 
notch 1-4 inch deep in both strips. Chisel tlirse 
out and turn the notched sides together. Bore 
a 1-4 inch hole through both strips 9 inches 
from the notched ends and 2 inches from the 
other end. 

From a dry-goods box make a foot-board 
about 20 inches long and 12 inches wide. 
(This may be made from narrow boards nail- 
ed together with cleats at the ends.) Now 
bore a hole (1-4 inch) about 6 inches from 
one end and 2 inches from one side. This 
board fits between the notched ends of the 
strips and the whole is bolted together with 
two 1-2 inch stove bolts. From a piece of iron 
barrel hoop cut a piece about 10 inches long- 
somewhat the shape of a bread knife. Put a 
• sharp point on this. (Do not make a cutting 
mark but one that will scratch and make a 



mark.) This knife-like marker will slide be- 
tween the two inch strips and make a 
straight mark which is absolutely necessary 
when making the form. You are now ready 
to begin work on the form. (Also of heavy 
telephone wire make four pins about 12 inches 
long. Sharpen one end of each.) Take a 
waist pattern that fits you, lay it on the shirt 
and cut around it. See that you do not waste 
any of the cloth (if you are careful there will 
be plenty) and when you are through you will 
have four pieces exactly like your pattern. 
Sew each pair of these together (front and 
back pieces, not the two front and two back) 
along the neck and shoulder slope and down 
the sides. Do not sew the arm holes. This 
will give you two half-shirts like FIG. I. 

Take the drapery pins and pin them as 
shown (I FIG. I) along the edges both front 
and back on both half shirts spacing the pins 
2 1-2 to 3 inches apart. 

Next in any old kettle (that you do not care 
about) melt together the 2 pounds each of 
resin and w^ax. Melt this over a slow fire and 
stir constantly until all is dissolved as other- 
wise it will stick to the bottom and burn. 
When dissolved there wall be a thick sediment 
at ♦he bottom but this will do no harm. 

Get a smooth board about ten inches wide 
and four feet long and place on an incline (six 
or eight inches high at one end) with the low- 
er end in some pan or dish that will receive 
the board. You will also need a rolling pin 
and a quart bottle is ideal as it is easy to han- 
dle and clean. 

V^( u are now ready to soak the shirt in the 
f-L>\' on. If it has cooled, heat it again. Now 
t ike one of the half-shirts and dip it into the 
solution (use a stick to lift out) and see that 
all parts of the shirt are saturated. Lift out 




Fi 



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and lay it on the inclined board and with the 
rolling pin roll out the surplus fluid. Press 
firmly but do not take out too much of the 
solution. Treat the other half-shirt in the 
same manner and lay on a newspaper to cool. 
You are now ready to take the impression. 
Tiie person of whom the impression is to be 
taken should wear a princess slip over the 
corset. To avoid soiling* the undergarments, 
a half-shirt of cheese cloth should be put over 
the slip before the saturated shirt is put on. 
When you are ready put either one of the half- 
shirts in a pan and place in the oven. Heat 
until it is fairly hot so that all parts are soft 
a!id pliable, Take from the oven and place on 
either side of the person, pulling it on well. 
Now take the elastic, make a loop in one end 
and slip it over the top hook at the neck and 
begin to lace, working as many of the wrin- 
kles as you can, out toward the hooks while 
lacing. Lace quickly and tightly as the elastic 
will take up the slack later. When you reach 
the 1:)ottom fasten the lacing and begin to 
mold the shirt to the body seeing that there 
are no wrinkles left except at the neck and 
under the arms and of these as few as possi- 
l)le. At the front of the arm there will al- 
ways be a surplus amount of cloth. This must 
be pinched into a gore and pinned. Be care- 
ful not to pin into the underclothing. It is 
sometimes necessary to take up some surplus 
it the back in the same manner but not often. 
If there are a few wrinkles that you cannot 
get out do not be alarmed but get them the 
best you can. When you have it molded up 
snugly to your satisfaction, it is time to use 
Lhe marker. Have the person stand wnth one 
foot on each side of the foot-board and place 
the nose in line with the center of the two up- 
right strips. Now with the marker begin at 



the neck and make a mark down the front of 
ihe form. Now have the person stand with 
the back to the upright and with the free arm 
place it (the upright) against the spinal col- 
umn. Then make the mark down the back. 

If the form has not hardened sufficiently, 
fan for a moment or apply ice cold cloths. Aft- 
er removing take tw^o of the four pins you 
have ready and push them thru the half-form 
as shown (1 and 2 FIG. Ill) Run a stick 
(3 FIG. Ill) thru' the armhole and hang in a 
cool place between tw^o chairs or boxes. Pro- 
ceed with the other half-form in the same 
manner. (Before putting on the clothing the 
exact measurements should be taken of neck, 
bust, waist and hip.) 

Now with a sharp pen knife cut along the 
marks When this is done the half form will 
be a little larger than necessary. Using one- 
half the exact measurements, measure around 
the half-form at the afore-mentioned places 
and if it is too large trim off the excess and 
lay the form (edges down) on the table to 
see that you have trimmed straight. Treat the 
other half-form in the same manner. Now take 
two of the strips with pins in and cut out two 
straight strips one inch wide. Sew one of 
these to the front of one of the half-forms 
(sew on the inside) and the other to the back 
of the other half-form (on the inside.) Now 
be sure that you get the half-forms together 
at the right place and sew them together as 
shown (FIG. IV.j 

The wrinkles must be taken out next. Take 
a soldering iron or old case knife and heat, but 
not red hot. With this heat the winkles. 
While they are still soft push them in or out as 
the case requires. The gores at the arm may 
now be attended to but first trim off the bot- 
tom of the form until it will stand straight 




F,\ 



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when placed on the table. From one of the 
waste strips cut a piece somewhat the size of 
the gores at the arms and sew on the inside. 
The protuding wrinkle may now be trimmed 
flush with the rest of the form. Treat all 
these pinched gores at the arms in the same 



wa\ 



he waist gores are next. Have a cloth 
belt made (with a hook and -eye) to fit your 
exact waist measurement. Make allowance 
for the elasticity of the body. By trying the 
belt onto the form it will be found to be too 
small. The w^aist of the form must be made 
to fit the belt. With your knife make several 
gores (3 FIG. IV) and trim out slightly as (2 
FIG. IV). Do not take out but a trifle from 
each gore but make six or eight gores, half in 
front and half in back. Try on the belt from 
time to time and when it will go on snugly, 
scAv up the gores as shown (4 FIG. IV). 

Now trim off the top of the neck and the 
armholes until they look well as in figures II 
and III. Trim off the bottom until it stands 
perfect on the table. 

The plastering comes next. Get a pitcher 
of w^ater, a bowl, two tablespoons and plenty 
of old rags cut to ten inch squares. Use one 
spoon in the dry plaster paris and the other 
for mixing. Mix only a table spoonful at a 
time as it sets quickly. Coat the outside first, 
holding the form with one hand on the inside 
A thin coat of good plaster paris is sufficient. 
When the outside has been coated set away 
for an hour after which coat the inside. (As 
one rag becomes hard throw it away and get 
another.) Now put in the neck and bottom 
boards. Set the form on a board that is wide 
enough (1-2 inch or 5-8 inch thickness is best) 
and reaching in at the arm or neck mark a- 
round the inside. Saw^ this out with a com- 




n 



i(k^ TE 



pass saw. Make the neck board in the same 
way. Trim these down to fit snugly and be- 
fore naihng in take them out and put on the 
cloth covering. For this use your flannelette. 
Prepare your glue, make it rather thin but not 
enough to run. Glue with an old brush and 
put on the cloth. When dry, slip in the neck 
and bottom boards, punch holes with a sharp 
awl around the edges and nail in the boards. 
Get the center of the bottom board, and bore 
a half inch hole. With this as a guide bore a 
hole in the neck board and the form is done. 
The standard is the last. With the excep- 
tion of the base the material may be bought 
at the plumber's. Get a 5-foot piece of 3-8 
inch pipe threaded at one end, a 1-2 inch tee 
with a 1-4 inch side (or a 1-2 inch side with a 
1-4 inch reducer) a 1-4 inch nipple 4 inches 
long threaded at both ends and run down more 
at one end than at the other, and a 1-4 inch 
tee. Screw the short threaded end of the 
nipple into the side of the 1-4 inch tee and the 
long threaded end into the 1-4 inch side of the 
1-2 inch tee and slip it (the 1-2 inch tee) over 
the 3-8 inch pipe. The nipple may then be 
tightened at any height desired and will hold 
the form from slipping on the standard. Tight- 
ening with the hand will be sufficient. If the 
nipple is not threaded enough to grip the stan- 
dard, run the threads down until it does. The 
base may be made of wood and the pipe held 
in position by plaster paris which is poured 
into the 1-2 inch hole in the center of the 
base, and into which the pipe is inserted and 
left to set. 



DIFFICULTIES SOMETIMES EN- 
COUNTERED. 

1. When the half-forms are hung up on the 
wires they will sometimes sag out of shape 
but can be sprung back into shape even when 
it seems beyond recovery. 

2. When working with the half-forms aft- 
er the impression is taken do not work near 
a fire or in a heated room. It is best to work 
in a cool room. 

3. When you have the half-forms trimmed 
off at the marks they will sometimes be found 
to be from one-half to three-quarters of an 
inch too large. If so, measure from the front 
edge of half-form around to the back (at neck, 
waist, bust and hip) use one-half the eact 
measurements and put a pin thru the form at 
the right distance. This will probably give 
different margins at the back (such as 3-4 inch 
at the waist, 1-2 inch at bust, etc.) Take one- 
half of each margin (as at bust 1-2 inch which 
will make 1-4 inch) and move the back pin 
1-4 inch toward the- back edge and at the 
front put in a pin 1-4 inch from front edge. 
Do this all along at the aforementioned meas- 
urements. Now lay a yard stick in line with 
the pins and make a mark. Trim both sides 
off at these marks and the half-form is per- 
fect. Trim the other half-form in the same 
manner. 

4. When the form is sewn together and 
you are working on the gores do not stand 
the form on the table when you stop work a 
minute. Hang on the wires or lay on the table 

5. Before plastering the outside put some 
cross pieces of wood in the bottom and neck 
to hold in shape while working with it. 



r 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



III! II 
014 081 407 6 



^. 



JANUARV 1917 
COURIER PRINTING COMPANY 

PONCA CITY. OKLA, 



J 



